Fiat Punto Sporting Mk1 85-16V ?

ytareh

Anyone here ever run one of these opinions?middling on fuel?mids 40s mpg?Reliability.Ive always fancied one of these but assumed theyd be reliability nightmares however as another poster here says they are in the current Car Mechanics mag being proclaimed as the most reliable/cheap to fix small hatch...Any for sale?

zilog_jones

I believe it was only the older 8 valve engines (55 and 60) which caused all the trouble with head gaskets. I think the real problem was Puntos were cheap cars when new, so many were bought by people who couldn't afford or didn't care about maintaining them properly. Any that's lasted this long can't be that bad surely?

Mk. 1's are getting on now, so you'd want to watch out for rust and budget for worn suspension bushings. Mk. IV Fiesta probably handles better, but I don't think the 1.6 Zetec S came out till '99 so may be harder to find or outside your budget.

beachlife

The problems with head gaskets has been over hyped in my opinion.

Yes they do go through head gaskets,but not like rovers or the like!!!
I would say to have the head done twice in ten years is the norm. I had a punto with 110,000 miles on it and the head never went!!

the one I have now the head went at 57,000 miles It's not a big job ,but if the car is using water get it checked out straight away !! The problem is that people fear bringing it to the garage and start topping up with water/coolant what they don't realize is that the cooling system is no longer closed and will draw in air/exhaust gases.
This in turn rots the inside of the cooling system and causes rads and heater matrix's etc to leak and eventually the repair bill is more than the car is worth.

You can get a head gasket done on a punto (with oil change,new plugs,coolant,thermostat) including timing belt and water pump for 550 euro's.
Thats cheap motoring in my eye's!!

The only other major thing really is the power steering which is electric and can go at any time,the motor costs 400 or the whole lot costs 800

Mailman

better off with an 85bhp 5 door ELX or 85bhp 3 door SX from the UK.
Much less likely to have been abused and that is pretty much all that matters with a car which is now over 10 years old.

L1011

They're extremely cheap to repair, rust isn't really a problem - Fiat had such a poor rep here they put extreme efforts in to it, the head gasket isn't a problem on the 16v (no more than it would be on any other 10+ year old, possibly badly maintained engine anyway).

The power steering motor as mentioned by beachlife is a problem on every Fiat since they brought in PAS as standard. You can can get a rebuilt PAS motor for cheaper than a new Fiat one - http://ecu-testing.com/fiat_punto__brava__bravo_power.html. If the car has spent its life being moved around city car parks and tight city streets this is way more likely than if its done motorway mileage; but of course this isn't easy to find out!

The biggest problem for me would be that its a car that came on the market 16 years ago, with spec that matches that era. Biggest memory of the last Mk1 in the family was that the headlights were useless, on that topic.

beachlife

Don't think I'd be bothered importing a punto!!! there ten a penny and they are all cheap.
the flight to uk and ferry back could double the price of the car!! these are available for around 1,000 or less why would you go to all the trouble to import one?

Every time someone talks about getting a car some one else say's get that in england!!
Well from my experience uk cars are better value when nearly new,however once you get to ten years old the uk cars hold there value better and actually are in worse condition, corrosion wise,the under bodies are usually very rusty and brake lines etc

L1011

beachlife wrote: »

actually are in worse condition, corrosion wise,the under bodies are usually very rusty and brake lines etc

Thats down to road surface treatments in winter; they use salt - we use a grit/molasses compound. Sugar doesn't rust your underbody!

Mailman

beachlife wrote: »

Every time someone talks about getting a car some one else say's get that in england!!

I didn't say import it. I've seen 85 SX models here imported by others.
ELX was sold here from the start.

beachlife

"better off with an 85bhp 5 door ELX or 85bhp 3 door SX from the UK."

Sorry mailman,just that seems to say GET one from the uk.not buy one here that was in the uk at some stage.

the punto 85 was sold here aswell it was just not that common because it is not really what the punto was perceived to be here in this country,which was a cheap car for cheap motoring.....

So that's why the punto 55/60 was/is the most common punto of that era.

small purchase price,small tax,small insurance, small servicing costs...still fun to drive

Mailman

I phrased the sentence regarding the various non "Sporting" 85BHP variants in the way I did very deliberately.
You misinterpreted it as a recommendation to go to the UK and import a sub €500 car.

beachlife

Mailman wrote: »

I phrased the sentence regarding the various non "Sporting" 85BHP variants in the way I did very deliberately.
You misinterpreted it as a recommendation to go to the UK and import a sub €500 car.

"better off with an 85bhp 5 door ELX or 85bhp 3 door SX from the UK."

FROM THE UK. and where did you get the figure of 500 euro from?

maybe you meant to phrase it differently but in effect the wording you used
suggests that the op would be better of with a car from the uk.

Which is what you said"better off with...........from the uk"

any way I'm sure the op has no interest in our debate of the english language
and only want's to know if a sporting punto is a good car,To which I say YES
In my opinion the punto's need to be revved and as they are non turbo(in this guise) then why not, they are cheap to fix and as long as it looks clean and hasn't been crashed then you could do a lot worse for the money

alias no.9

I know a guy who had an 85 Sporting about 10 years ago and he found it a bit thirsty, but that may have been down to his driving style.
The car mechanics mag article recommended the 8v rather than the 16v because things like timing belts become much more complex and costly with the twin cam 16v engine. They did highlight the head gasket problem on the 8v but also that as head gaskets go, they're amongst the cheapest and easiest to change. There's a rare 1242cc 75bhp 8v if you're looking for a bit more poke with the 8v.
Rust is not a problem on these unless they've been crashed and there's enough to chose from so avoid anything with crash damage. The electric power steering problems are only on the MkII, the MkI had a conventional hydraulic setup, if it had power steering at all.
One other common problem is rear suspension bushings but I think there is a cheap and quick repair kit.

beachlife

You don't have to worry about the timing belt been more expensive on the 16 valve because they use the same set up as the 8 valve just that the two cams are gear driven.

Rev. BlueJeans

Mk 1 sporting is quite a nice little car.

You'll see the odd good one here, but most have been hollied or abused, as they were pretty much the car of choice for those who didn't have a lot of moolah when new.

I'd look at the UK myself as well, but I wouldn't limit myself to that, just a bigger market is all. Owner's clubs are another option that we wouldn't have here.

alias no.9

beachlife wrote: »

You don't have to worry about the timing belt been more expensive on the 16 valve because they use the same set up as the 8 valve just that the two cams are gear driven.

The CM mag article mentioned that on the 16v, timing needing to be set with the pistons mid stroke rather than at TDC, requiring specialised tools. I've never even been under the bonnet of a 16v so can't comment beyond what I've read. The other timing belt related issue is that the 16v is an interference engine, i.e. if the timing belt fails, the pistons will crash into the valves, the 8v is non interference, just replace the belt and time it up.

beachlife

alias no.9 wrote: »

The CM mag article mentioned that on the 16v, timing needing to be set with the pistons mid stroke rather than at TDC, requiring specialised tools. I've never even been under the bonnet of a 16v so can't comment beyond what I've read. The other timing belt related issue is that the 16v is an interference engine, i.e. if the timing belt fails, the pistons will crash into the valves, the 8v is non interference, just replace the belt and time it up.

Yes that's right about the tools, they are different,but the kit for the belt is the same. and the cost in a garage would be the same,about 250 euro including waterpump and belt and tensioner/coolant/thermostat.

Mailman

beachlife wrote: »

"better off with an 85bhp 5 door ELX or 85bhp 3 door SX from the UK."

FROM THE UK. and where did you get the figure of 500 euro from?

maybe you meant to phrase it differently but in effect the wording you used
suggests that the op would be better of with a car from the uk.

Which is what you said"better off with...........from the uk"

any way I'm sure the op has no interest in our debate of the english language
and only want's to know if a sporting punto is a good car,To which I say YES
In my opinion the punto's need to be revved and as they are non turbo(in this guise) then why not, they are cheap to fix and as long as it looks clean and hasn't been crashed then you could do a lot worse for the money

I can't help you if you are struggling with the English language.

500 euro is a ball park figure since I saw what looked to be a nice clean pastel green 85 bhp ELX in Longford advertised on gumtree a few weeks ago for 400 quid. Perhaps it's still there.
My sister's Mk 1 Punto lost it's power steering belt when it was only two or so years old. I had a non PS Punto mark 1. I didn't find the steering to be overly heavy except when I was in multi-story car parks.

The OP could also look at the earlier 75BHP ELX which is a good deal more pokey than the 60S but the suspension on the early mark1 Punto was softer than on the ones from 97 thru 99.

beachlife

Mailman wrote: »

I can't help you if you are struggling with the English language.

500 euro is a ball park figure since I saw what looked to be a nice clean pastel green 85 bhp ELX in Longford advertised on gumtree a few weeks ago for 400 quid. Perhaps it's still there.
My sister's Mk 1 Punto lost it's power steering belt when it was only two or so years old. I had a non PS Punto mark 1. I didn't find the steering to be overly heavy except when I was in multi-story car parks.

The OP could also look at the earlier 75BHP ELX which is a good deal more pokey than the 60S but the suspension on the early mark1 Punto was softer than on the ones from 97 thru 99.

I have no problems with the English language,Thank you.
Seem's like Rev. Bluejeans also thinks you are suggesting a UK car,which by your statement you are,So perhaps it is you who has the difficulty with the English language?

-Chris-

beachlife wrote: »

any way I'm sure the op has no interest in our debate of the english language

Nobody does - give it a rest lads.

At best it's a misunderstanding that has been corrected. Move on.

deceit

I've had a sporting thats now in the hands of my sister as prefer the gt's. They are really good on petrol, easy to maintain, only thing in 4 years of me owning it and 2 years of my sister having it to go wrong was a hole in the exhaust. I'd give it a bit of stick also but was serviced all the time. Just make sure you get one that has been maintained properly and you shouldnt have any problems as the 16v engine in them was reliable. I also had a 1.6 sporting while living in the uk and they where also very good, might be worth looking at as has similar mpg and performance.